§ Sir John HannamTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 16 and 17 November; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThis meeting of the Council, at which I represented the United Kingdom, continued its discussion of proposals from the Commission for changes in the arrangements for arable area payments, including set-aside; for adjustments to the agri-monetary system; and for implementing the agreement on oilseeds concluded between the Community and the United States. No decisions were reached.
On arable area payments, I pressed for changes in the existing system going beyond those proposed by the Commission. In particular, I want to ensure that farmers who entered arable land into the old set-aside scheme, which started in 1988, have a continuing incentive not to return it to production when their obligations under that scheme come to an end.
I made it clear that I could accept the modest change in the agri-monetary system proposed by the Commission but not the more far-reaching, and expensive, change urged by Germany. I argued that the suspension of the automatic adjustment of green rates, which the Commission has imposed under its own powers since September, should not be further extended.
The Council discussed the present state of play in the Uruguay round negotiations. It also had an initial discussion of a Commission proposal which would extend the existing sugar arrangements for a year, while at the same time introducing quota controls on production of inulin syrup, a sugar substitute.